


Saving Princey

by unique_and_just_like_the_others



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18715996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unique_and_just_like_the_others/pseuds/unique_and_just_like_the_others
Summary: Virgil helps Roman heal from his abusive ex, Deceit.





	1. Chapter 1

Virgil hated a lot of things. Opening the door, especially at night, was one of them. He hated it, but he heard the door. It was midnight, but of course, he was awake. He never could fall asleep before 3 am.

He heard the knock and looked through the peephole. It was  _Roman?_  They weren’t like worst enemies or anything, but Roman seriously disliked him and Virgil wasn’t much easier on him.

Roman looked scared. Why was Princey outside his door at the witching hour? Was something wrong? 

Virgil opened the door and assessed the hot mess outside his door.

Roman, Roman was shivering, swaying. Virgil’s eyes landed on his neck, there were bruises. Roman looked beat up, scared, and like he’d been drugged. 

“I didn’t know where else to go…”

In that moment, Virgil knew he had to help. He opened the door wider and pulled Ro in. 

‘Come in, what’s wrong? What happened to you?”

“Jay” 

Janus? Roman’s boyfriend?

* * *

 

15 minutes later Roman and Virgil were on the couch, Roman was lying back, not in leisure, but because he didn’t have to energy to sit. There was a mug of tea in his hands Virgil had brewed him. Roman would have normally chosen a fruity tea, but he was grateful just to have the warm beverage in his hands. Even if it was  _chamomile_.

The silence was tense, neither knew what to say or who should start. roman didn’t know how to detail the night’s events, he so wanted to, but he didn’t have the words. He only had experiences, pictures. He only had the feel of Janus’s hands around his neck. Of his voice, hissing the words Roman had been hearing for months. The words Janus had been hissing since Roman had brought up the lies the first time.

“ _I’ll tell you the truth when you prove you’re worthy…”_

He kept trying to prove he was worthy. He’d given everything, his mind, his soul, his  _body._  He hadn’t protested, he’d done everything Jay told him to. It was still not enough, he was still not enough.

Virgil didn’t know what to do. Roman was sitting there, shaking, not even seeming aware of the tears rolling down his cheeks. What could he do to comfort him? Then it occurred to him.

“Have you seen the Percy Jackson Musical?” They may not be besties, but Roman did not try to hide his love for musicals. Virge decided on PJO since he may or may not have heard Ro singing “My Grand Plan” in the gym showers.

“Not seen, but I’ve listened to the cast recording a million times,” he shrugged. “I wish I knew more about the plot though.”

“Have you not read the books?”

“There’s books?”

“You royal idiot, of course, there are books. I own all of them. You have to read them, I’m going to force you.”

“You’re out of luck, I don’t read.”

“How can you not read? You’re the guy who said he wanted to be “Prince Charming” when he grew up. When you read books you can literally be him.”

“I just can’t sit still when there are so many better things I could be doing.”

“Ever heard of an audiobook? You know where you listen to someone else read the story to you?”

“That exists?”

“Yes that exists, you dummy. That’s actually what I want to do. I want to be the person who does the audiobooks. It’s like acting but without all the people,” he pulled his hoodie down over his hands and shrunk into himself. A turtle-y anxious habit of his.

“I prefer to act upon a stage, but if that is your cup of tea… Would you like to give me a demonstration?” 

“You mean, you want me to read a book to you?”

“Why not? It’s practice, plus, you get to force me to read any book you like,” he shrugs and takes a sip of the chamomile. A bit herbal for his taste, but he could understand why the emo liked it.

“I mean, I guess…”

“Come on, I’m literally giving you a chance to practice something you want to do.”

“Ok, wait here, I’ll be right back. Feel free grab a blanket or something to cosy up,” he stood and, for what may be the first time ever, pranced.

* * *

When he returned he found Roman stretched across the couch. “Any room for me?” Virgil asked, snarky but smiling.

“I could use a pillow,” Roman grinned at the angsty boy.

Virgil shook his head but didn’t argue as Roman lifted his. Virgil sat on the cushion and Roman set his head on his lap. Roman prepared himself to be read to, and Virgil prepared to perform.

_“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood._  
If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.  Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.   
Being a half-blood is dangerous.  It’s scary.  Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.” 

What Roman wasn’t prepared for was the way Virgil’s voice would take him far away to Long Island and a world of Greek Gods. What Virgil wasn’t prepared for was how Roman would look, falling asleep in his lap, or how soft his hair would be.


	2. Saving Princey Chapter 2

Roman woke first, he was used to waking up early, he had to be. Without even thinking he went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. He started with the scrambled eggs and then whipped up some chocolate chip pancake batter. When Roman started frying bacon and making coffee, the smell woke Virgil up. 

 

Virgil was confused at first, there shouldn’t be anyone else in the house, much less anyone cooking. Then, last night’s events came back to him, how Roman showed up at his door, how he’d read to Roman until he fell asleep, how soft his hair had been… That still didn’t explain why Roman was cooking, though. Virgil stumbled sleepily into the kitchen.

“Morning Princey,” Virgil yawned. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but what are you doing?” Virgil normally woke up around 11, he’d purposefully only chosen classes that met in the afternoon or at night. He was a night owl, and from what he remembered Roman was too.

“Oh, um, sorry, I just, I wanted to thank you. Plus I mean, I probably woke you up last night and I wanted to make up for that. I woke up early and figured I could make breakfast for you,” His voice was timid which was unlike him. He’d been making breakfast every morning for the past 3 months, that was what Janus expected. He’d had to wake up early so he could make breakfast, but still be in bed when Jay woke up. Jay got upset when Roman wasn’t in bed when he woke up. Eventually waking up early came naturally. So naturally, he couldn’t fall back to sleep.

“It’s fine. It smells really good, I just wasn’t expecting you to make breakfast.” He gives him a smile. He doesn’t entirely understand what happened, but he knows he needs to be delicate. He can’t stand seeing Princey like this. They’d been friends in high school until he and Janus got together. Roman stopped hanging out with Virgil pretty soon after. They’d always teased each other, but after Janus showed up Roman started being cold.

“Oh good, I knew it would. After all, I am incredible, daring, handsome, and an excellent cook.” Just like that the insecurity and anxiety from the moment prior were gone. He was back to being arrogant Princey.

“Anything I can do to help? Maybe chop some onions or take over the pancakes?” Virgil offered. It looked like a lot of work.

“No, no, my treat! I could use some entertainment though, would you like to continue reading to me? It really is a wonderful book.” Roman wasn’t used to being offered help, he did everything he was good enough at, and Janus was forced to do the rest. Most of the time Roman cooked with music playing softly, but he’d forgotten his phone at Jay’s apartment. He couldn’t stand working in silence, and he really liked the book, plus Virge was an amazing narrator. He’d do voices and everything.

“Sure, if you’d like. I’m not sure exactly when you fell asleep though. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“He just fought the minotaur.” Roman flipped a pancake and moved some bacon onto a plate with a paper towel.

“Oh cool, let me find it.” Virgil got the book from the living room and flipped through, looking for the correct page. When he found it, he hopped up on the counter and started reading. He sat there, secretly snacking on bacon while Roman cooked.

When it was done they ate together. It was fun, they laughed and they joked, it was the first time Roman wasn’t on eggshells in months. It was the first breakfast Roman had enjoyed in a long time.


	3. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What broke Virgil and Roman's years long friendship.

_ October 31st, 2017…  _

_ Janus and Roman had been dating for about a month now, and Roman had been drifting away from his best friend. Ditching him to spend time with Jay, going cold when Virgil would point out a flaw. Jay was always his first priority. Roman had always been the type to obsess over boys, but never at the detriment of his friendship with Virge. _

_ It was Jay’s Halloween party, Virgil was invited, but obviously only because of Roman. He wondered how long Ro had to beg to get him to be here, he had certainly begged Virgil. He’d never been able to say no to his best friend. Not when Roman had asked if he wanted to be friends and not a single time since then. _

_ So there he was, sitting in the living room of someone he barely likes, watching as Roman laughed at all Janus’s jokes, watching him dote over him like a puppy. He got up to leave, at least to take a breather. He sat on the porch, not wanting to leave Ro, but also not being able to watch that anymore. _

 

_ “Hey, you know you don’t have to stay here for me right?” Roman had come out silently. _

_ “How arrogant of you to think you’re the only reason I’m here.” Virgil always teased him, but what if he meant what he said? _

_ “Oh, I’m sorry, I guess you’re out here for no good reason.” Roman snapped, he didn’t know why he just couldn’t be taunted anymore. He wasn’t going to let himself be disrespected. _

_ “Did I do something wrong?” Roman had told him he could always ask that question and promised never to lie, so, he told the truth. _

_ “I just feel like it isn’t fair for you to call me arrogant when I left a party I’m rather enjoying to check on you. You’re always calling me these mean things.” _

_ “Isn’t that our thing? We banter, I call you arrogant, you say ‘says the emo who expects a Prince to pay attention to him’ but it’s all just teasing. We tease.” Virgil looked confused. _

_ “Not if I don’t like it anymore. I want you to stop calling me arrogant and an idiot, it’s mean, and I don’t like it.”  _

_ “You absolute idiot, you really think I’m being mean? What’s gotten into you?” Virgil was clearly frustrated.  _

_ “I told you to stop, I don’t want to be friends with someone who doesn’t respect me.” _

_ “I don’t think we can be friends without teasing each other, not really. It’s part of our relationship.” _

_ “Then I don’t want our relationship.” _

_ “Really? You’re just going to throw away 12 years of friendship because I called you arrogant?” _

_ “I’m going back inside with Jay, I think it would be best if you left…” Roman turned away and opened the front door. _

_ Virgil left, hurt, frustrated, and crying. He didn’t see Roman look back at Virgil, hoping he’d refuse. When he glanced up at the house, he could see the silhouette of his favourite person walking back into the living room. _


	4. The Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman's been holding it in for too long, buster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry to report that I know next to nothing about lock picking, Reader. I did minimal research and I played Nancy Drew Phantom Menace, but that’s it. There will be inaccuracies. So, for my readers that are secretly master-thieves, I implore you to keep your identity hidden and not correct my lock picking.

“Fuck, I don’t have my key.” Roman jiggled to doorknob a couple more times in the hope that it might magically unlock. To his dismay, it did not.

    “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it.” Virgil pulled out 2 bobby pins: one bent into an L-shape and the other flat with a hook at the end. He inserted the L one first, twisting it slighting, then poked around inside the lock with the hook. After a couple of minutes, he twisted the L one all the way and opened the door. “Voila!”

    “You know how to lock pick?” Roman walked in, grabbing his suitcase and several backpacks.

    “After my uncles moved to London for Logan’s job, and left me the house, I kept locking my key inside. So, after some research online and a couple of broken bobby pins, I taught myself how. I only figured out later that I could just get several copies of the key and keep them everywhere.” If Roman didn’t know any better, he might have thought that Virgil’s ears were pinker.

    “Classic Virgil, going to the extreme before thinking of the everyday solution. It definitely made life more interesting.” Roman grinned, remembering all the times Virgil’s unconventional thinking had gotten them into trouble.

    “This place is much cleaner than I’d expect any apartment of yours to be.” Virgil glanced around, the place barely looked like people lived there, it looked more like a magazine than a home.

    “Jay is always redecorating, he insists we keep everything clean. We split up the chores. He does everything I’m not good enough to do. If the house isn’t clean at the end of the day I stay up and clean it until it is.” Roman listened to what he was saying and mentally recoiled. He knew that that wasn’t good, that everything Jay had done in the past 10 months wasn’t good.

    “Not anymore,” Virgil said firmly.

    And Roman broke, all the pain and turmoil he’d been feeling, he choked it out, sobbing. His face was wet with tears, and he could hardly breathe. He tried to calm himself down, he shouldn’t be crying, he shouldn’t be crying, he shouldn’t be-

    Virgil wrapped his arms around him, hugging him. “It’s OK now, you’re safe.”

    “Sorry” he sobbed, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t be crying.” he just barely managed to get the words out between gastly sobs.

    “No, don’t be sorry, it’s OK to cry. It hurts, the only way you can stop hurting is to let it out. I’m sorry you have to feel all this. I’d take it away if I could, I wish I could. I hate seeing you in pain.”

    Roman found that they were on the floor, but he didn’t care. He was crying, and it sucked, but he could finally cry. He could finally cry, he was with Virgil and he was safe. He was hurting, but he felt a wave of… relief.


	5. Moves Like Tarantino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How to follow up that last chapter….. Ah yes! Another flashback!

_ Virgil had never been outgoing, even as a child. And the first day of kindergarten was no different. Roman on the other hand? He was the class clown, and Ms. Patty knew she had a talkative boy on her hands. He was quite the butterfly, moving around, chittering and chattering, rambling and babbling. While Roman fluttered around at recess, Virgil sat quietly on the bench. While Roman made jokes in class, Virgil did the homework. While Roman was boisterous, Virgil made sure to never ever ever take up too much space. _

_ Which is why Virgil was surprised when Roman invited him to his birthday party. Why he was surprised when Roman would invite him to play tag with the other kids; when he’d ask if Virgil wanted to hang out that weekend. Which is why everyone was surprised when the outgoing, popular kid became best friends with the quiet, anxious kid. _

_ No one could tell you how the popular drama kid to-be ended up being besties with the soon to be emo. But friends they were, and friends they stayed, all through grade school. Even through middle school, when everyone thought that they should go to their own cliques. In high school, Virgil painted the set for every show Roman starred in. _

_ The moment that started it all, Virgil was sitting under the slide. His pencil following the curve of Stitch’s eyes, his hands making swift movements until he had a fully formed alien before him. Roman broke off from the other tag-players and slid under the slide beside the quiet boy. _

_ “Woah, cool! Wanna hear my Stitch impression?” He peered over his shoulder, eyes glancing over the drawing before him.  Virgil was surprised to see someone next to him but quickly regained his composure. _

_ “Sure!” _

_ “Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten,” the impression was impressive, for a kindergartener. Luckily, Virgil was one. _

_ “Wow! How do you do that?” Virgil was astonished. _

_ “I’ll tell you if you teach me how to draw Stitch!” _

_ “Sure!” Virgil got him out a paper and handed him a pencil. They spent the rest of the recess drawing together, and the next imitating an alien. _

_ About a week later, Roman Rex, king of the classroom, was passing out invitations to his birthday party. He was only allowed to invite 3 children to go, everyone knew he’d invite the twins, Patton and Logan, but the third kid was a mystery. Would it be Terrence, or maybe Valerie? No one was more surprised than Virgil Tempest himself when the golden ticket landed on his desk. _


	6. How to Reminisce With an Old Friend

As soon as they stepped into the apartment, Roman second-guessed his decision. What would he do without Janus? Who was he without him? He’d have to get a job. He’d never had a job before. What if he couldn’t get one? He’d relied on Jay to support them for so long. 

Sure, they’d had some bad times, but they’d also had some amazing times. He was considering telling Virgil he’d changed his mind, that he and Janus just needed to work some things out.

But then he saw Virgil, really saw him for the first time in years. His best friend was back and stealing one of Jay’s favourite hats. His best friend was back and taking all the cereal. His best friend was back and trying to save him. If he couldn’t leave Jay for himself, maybe he could leave Janus for Virgil.

* * *

“Remember we can’t take everything, just bring the necessities and anything you can’t replace,” Virgil instructed.

“Says the guy who insisted on taking all the cereal.”

“Says the guy who complained about not having ‘the right cereal’ this morning. I’d say it’s necessary to keep you from whining.”

“And Jay’s hat?” Roman’s left eyebrow raised.

“It’s necessary to get payback.” 

“It really isn’t.” 

“Says the guy who poured a smoothie on Henry’s head.”

“He stood you up to homecoming!” 

“He broke up with me after you did that.”

“Then he shouldn’t have stood you up,” Roman huffed.

“I told you it was no big deal!” 

“You were devastated!”

“Was I?”

“You cried about it all the next day, you thought he was breaking up with you.” 

“Well he wasn’t, he just had to babysit his cousin’s friend’s kid.”

‘Yeah, like he couldn’t get out of that.”

“He couldn’t, and I mean, the dance sucked anyway.”

“Yeah, cause your date stood you up!”

“You still didn’t have to pour a smoothie on his head.”

“No one stands up my best friend and gets away with it!” he defended. 

There was a beat of silence. “Why are you staring at me? Did I do something wrong?” Roman worried.

“No, I just missed this,” the corner of Virgil’s mouth quirked up into a smile.

“Missed what?”

“Being your best friend.”


End file.
